The present invention relates to a new process for producing the known antibiotics 7-deazaadenosine and 7-deazainosine. In the known methods, 7-deazaadenosine (also known as tubercidin) is produced by culturing an actinomycetes of the species Streptomyces tubercidicus [K. Anzai, et al., J. Antibiotics, A10, 201 (1957)]; and 7-deazainosine is derived from 7-deazaadenosine by chemical synthesis [Y. Mizuno, et al., J. Org. Chem., 28, 3331 (1963)].
Due to the usefulness of the foregoing compounds as antibacterial agents, new processes for the production thereof are in demand. To this end, it has now been found that 7-deazaadenosine and 7-deazainosine are produced by fermentation of microorganisms belonging to the genus Micromonospora.